With the widespread prevalence of venereal disease and the growing occurrence of AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome), there is an increasing need for effective means to prevent the transmission of such diseases through sexual contact and resultant exchange of bodily fluids between a user and the user's partner.
Heretofore, conventional means for preventing the transmission of such bodily fluids and exposure to such diseases because of bodily contact have included the use of condoms, jells, creams and the like.
Additionally, there have been proposals to provide female prophylactic devices which can be worn by a female prior to use and disposed of following use. It is desirable that such devices include an arrangment for securing a pouch in place to prevent withdrawal during use.
While such conventional and proposed devices are suitable for their intended purpose, it has been found that they are not totally effective for various reasons.
U.S. Pat. No.4,735,621 likewise shows a thin walled, condom-like, tubular protective device for insertion into a vaginal canal. It includes a resilient ring on one end thereof to anchor the device in the vaginal canal.
The retention ring of the '621 patent is an integral part of the condom which requires special manufacturing tooling. Furthermore, the retention ring is configured to have a diameter corresponding to that of the pouch and a cross-sectional diameter that is small compared to the diameter of the ring. As a consequence the ring requires careful placement within the vagina so as to assure that it will fit in an interference relationship therewith to prevent the pouch from being withdrawn during coitus. Furthermore, the '621 retention ring may be oriented in a direction that will produce undesirable contact with an erected penis, i.e., causing pain during intercourse. Furthermore, the outer ring goes into the vagina during intercourse causing undesirable exposure of the users to bodily fluids.
Other female condoms have been proposed that include an internally located resilient insert element for holding the pouch portion of the female condom in place. One example is set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 5,325,871 that discloses the use of an insertable retention member that can be compressed during insertion and that will, following deployment of the female condom into its deployed position, serve both as a radially outwardly directed retention pressure device as well as a device for dispensing spermicides, fungicides or the like. U.S. Pat. No. 5,193,555, as shown in FIG. 1, requires use of an insertion tool 15. Another female condom requiring an insertion tool is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,146,930. In the '555 patent retention is provided by a multi-fingered insert with a central portion and a radially outwardly directed portion that springs out following tool insertion for holding the condom pouch in place. In the '930 patent retention is provided by a series of flexible protrusions that are on the outside of the pouch and that are inclined in a direction to prevent pull-out of the pouch.
While suitable for their intended purposes, such aforesaid devices have been found to lack an ease of application that will make the female condom acceptable and convenient to most users.